Here we are, the last day of the year 2011. It's been a good one and I wanted to list a few things I'm greatful for.

(going from left to right, from top to bottom)

1. Friends (moving to the other side of the world has made me miss my friends more than I could have even thought of. There are not enough words to describe the pain I feel when I think of my friends back home and how much I miss them. I am truly lucky to have so amazing friends.)

2. The cold winter in Finland (didn't think I would ever say that, maybe I'm just hallusinating because it is so hot in here at the moment)

3. The beautiful spring in Australia (I wish it was always spring here)

4. My yellow bike (can't really even remember life before it)

5. Grandparents who adore their grandchildren and great grandchildren

6. Skype (being able to talk to the other side of the world for free is an amazing blessing, and getting pictures my dad has taken during our conversations is just extra nice)

7. & 8. Small apartment and a house (it doesn't matter where you live, as long as you have a home. Home is always nice to go to)

9. 4 generations of women (I cherish my history and am so greatful for everything my parents and grandparents have taught me)

10. My gran (she's my idol)

11. My husband and the father of my daughter (there is so much love in him that it astonishes me, he is my best friend and he makes me a better person)

12. Our family

13. Pool (I am so greatful to have a pool very close to us, to have a child who LOVES water and to be able to go there every week, it is one of the high lights of our weeks)

14. Finland world champions in ice hockey 2011 (call me silly, but I went nuts when we won, just like the rest of the Finland. This really is one of my high lights of this year.)

15. Temple (I am so greatful to have a temple so close to us, it brings me so much peace and joy)

16. My little Emma (she is the sunshine and the storm in my day. Only she can make me laugh and frustrated
both in 5 minutes. It's not only she who grows, I am growing with her. Every day. Every moment. Bless her heart. My baby)

Friday, 30 December 2011

I have been dreaming of this, fantasizing even, but I never really believed it could be possible.

Last week I have...

... been mesmerized and relaxed by a book, not being able to put it down and not needing to put it down.

... gone to the movies for the first time in a year. Some might not understand (like my husband) but I really really have missed going to the movies.
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... been so overwhelmed by my husbands extended family and spent a whole day with them in the park.

... been lying on the bed with my aussi mum and little sis, giggling and chatting.

... listened to an amazing Christmas album by our dear friend who just got back from the US.

... spent an amazing evening with an old friend, without any hassle, pure enjoyment.

... put my baby to sleep by holding her in my arms and singing to her, something I haven't done since she was very little.

So I have not been on the computer for a week. Instead I've been spending time with myself and with the people I love (and missing a lot of those people I love back in Finland, back in home).

I haven't even taken any pictures (which I do regret). So here's our Christmas card that we sent out this year.

Thursday, 22 December 2011

The teacher side of me is always there, and since my own child can't produce much, I have to use other children. I had my friend's kids draw some events of Jesus' life that they remembered. Then I had them tell the story behind the picture. I wrote the stories down, word to word. And of course I had to make it into a book for the parents.

I hope this book will stay with them a long time. That way the children can look back and read some of the wonderfulstories they told. Aren't children amazing!

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

I am finally getting our house in the Christmas atmosphere. Call me going to the extremes, but our house is not having any Santas or Raindeers this Christmas. It's rather easy since it's our first Christmas in Australia together and we don't really have anything. But I have really enjoyed it and I hope it stays like that for the future Christmases too.

I made these little nativity candels to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. I printed the pictures, but for some reason our printer wasn't co-operating with me, hence all the see through spots everywhere. You can't really see them if you don't look too close. Should have taken the picture further away too, ding it.

I have thought a lot about kids and Santa this Christmas. Whenever I'm in the shops I seem to hear parents saying to their children "Maybe you should ask Santa to get it for you", "Remember that Santa has elfs all around watching, you better behave" etc. And then I remember the story that my brothers tell me about how I found out that Santa wasn't real and how hard I cried.

So, the more I hear the parents in the shops and the more I think about what Christmas is all about, I think I don't want my child to believe in Santa. Is that cruel of me? Maybe it will change, I don't know. But that's how I feel at the moment. I'd much rather teach her about Christs birth and make her understand why we celebrate Christmas than for her to believe that Santa brings loads of presents during the night.

I love the nativity, I love all the different ways that it is portrayed. Last weekend we went to sing carols by candel light in Perth, took a couple of pictures in different nativity sets and got in the Christmas mood. This one is a small part of our extended family at one of those nativity sets.

Monday, 19 December 2011

This week I want to share with you some of the little projects I've made around our house that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

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First of I wanted to make these ornaments for our Christmas tree. Kirstin from kojo design shared this project at I Am Momma Hear Me ROAR. I loved the idea of having 25 different names that the scriptures use of Christ and putting one on the tree every day in December until Christmas. But I was impatient and put them all on our tree at once.

I wrote a scripture at the bottom of each ornament so that in the future, when Emma is a bit older, we can put one on the tree each day and read the scripture too. I think this is such a nice little reminder of why we actually celebrate Christmas.

Friday, 16 December 2011

Are you ready for the last quick present idea. I realized that all of these are also very small and light so they could also be named "last minute and cheap to send in the mail gifts". Yeah you can guess that I'm going for all those sorts of gifts since I have been sending lots of things to Finland.

Yay for cute magnets! You can make these individual for the person you're giving them to. You could put art images on them, alphabet or draw your own pictures. Use your imagination!

Here's what you'll need

- small images (you can get them from magazines or print them)
- glass pearls, or whatever you might call them. They need to have an even surface on the other side. You can buy these in almost any craft shop
- super glue
- magnets

You all know I love the little miss and mr. men characters, so I wanted to try this out with them first. Your images need to be really small. The glass pearls make them look like much bigger.

Start by getting your pictures ready and cut them out to the size of your pearl. Then put glue on the smooth side of the pearl and drop it on your image. Turn it quickly other way around to dry so that it won't stick to the table.

Glue all the images on the pearls and then get your magnets ready. If you want strong magnets, use the round thick ones that you can find in the craft shops. I used some magnet strips that I pulled of from an add. Super glue the magnets on and let it dry. And you're done!!!

So remember how I said that you can use this idea to make the cufflinks and earings? Here's what I did.

Superman logo's are to be cufflinks.

Audrey Hepburn ones are going to be earings for my friend and the Peter Pan ones are going to be earings for me. The image doesn't give justice so I might get a picture of them in my ears.

Enjoy your Christmas preparation and have a wonderful weekend. Next week I will share a few things I've done to remind us of the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Last year I made some earings. This year I decided to make some more. Why you ask? Because you can never have too many earings and because they are so easy and quick to make!

You'll need

- earing pieces, you can buy these almost at any craft shop, very easy to find
- something to decorate them, eg. buttons, pearls, just use your imagination
- super glue

This year I decided to make dice earings. I got black square pearls from our local craft shop and then painted the dots on them. There is a hole in the pearls but when you leave it at the side you won't see it when you're wearing it.

So again like in the cufflinks, just glue them together and you're ready. You could use the legos in this one too Iäm sure.

You can also use tomorrows idea for making earings (and cufflinks). Are you excited? I am.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

This one could be for almost anyone. We all need little pouches for different purposes. For a child you could put lollies or colouring pens inside, for teens you could put nail polish or you could give it just empty.

You can choose a funky material or make your own print on a basic material. I won't show step by step tutorial on how I did mine, but you can do it even without my instructions. The first one I just used letter stamps and fabric paint and for the second one I wrote the message with a paintbrush.

Start by cutting out all the pieces you need. Make your prints on the pieces first too. Remember to iron the pieces with print on them after they are dry. That way the paint will stay on the material even after a wash. I also attached my labels at this point to the inner materials.

Once you've done this, sew the zip in place. This might be the most difficult part if you're not used to sewing zips. But once you get it, it's pretty easy. The way to do it is to take one outside piece and one inside piece, face them right sides together and put the zip in between them so that the top side of the zip is facing the outside piece.

Get the drift? If not hopefully the picture below will clarify it. Then just sew the other side of the zip on. Do the same for the other side.

After you've sewn both sides on the zip, your work should look like the picture below (the outside and inside).

I sew a seam right on the material, next to the zip so that the zip will open and close without any problems. This step is not necessary if you're in a hurry.

Now put the outside pieces right sides facing each other and inside pieces right sides facing each other and sew around the whole thing. Remember to leave a small gap where you're going to turn your pouch around. And remember to have this gap on the inside piece! Also remember to leave the zip open in the middle!

Turn the pouch right way around through the small hole.

Close the gap with a straight stitching as shown in the picture below.

Push the inside part inside the pouch, iron and you are done! Fill it with goodies or give it as it is. And I'll bet it will be a loved gift.

Monday, 12 December 2011

Oh yay Christmas is nearly here! Do you have all your presents made/bought and wrapped? Awsome if you do, I don't. So this week I'm sharing one idea a day of something that you can make, that is super easy and quick too.

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Ready for the first projects. It's for the little ones. I've seen them around before I had my baby and I didn't understand what the big deal about it was. It wasn't until I had Emma that I realised that she was obsessed with tags. Tags on toys and tags on clothes, tags on anything. So I made her a blanket with tags, and she spent a long time quietly looking and pulling all the tags. Awesome for long drives for example.

I found this cute material in an op-shop, it used to be a blanket cover. Isn't it cute.

Start of by making yourself a pattern. I used a4 paper to make a square. Then fold your material so that you can get two square pieces at the same time. Pin your pattern and cut the square off. Iron the pieces.

Cut your ribbons, as many as you want. I cut them about 6/7cm long. Then place the pieces of fabric right sides facing each other. Fold the ribbons in half, forming a loop and place them in the middle of the two pieces of fabric. Pin them so that they won't move when you sew. Do this to all the sides.

Sew the sides together, but remember to leave a gap where you can turn your blanket right way around. I used and overlocker, but you can just as well use a sewing machine.

After you've turned it around sew a straight line around the whole blanket. Remember to turn the gaps sides inside, that way you won't even know where you've turned it around. Sewing all around the blanket will not only close the gap but ensure that the tags stay put and won't come off when the little baby is playing with it.

And ta-da, you're done! One super cute blanket in no time and one super happy baby on Christmas!